


we crave the fiction when we need the truth

by summerdayghost



Category: DCU, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst, Biphobia, Denial, Drinking to Cope, Earth-2, Fantasizing, Femslash February, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Infidelity, Internalized Homophobia, Minor Character Death, Multi, Secret Crush, Sexuality Crisis, very brief but i will tag it anyways
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-25 16:11:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9828398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerdayghost/pseuds/summerdayghost
Summary: Iris found Linda stunning even when she wasn't using her powers.Alternatively in which Iris has some things she needs to, but refuses to, deal with.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a lyric from the song "Emoitcons" by The Wombats.
> 
> So I wrote this a super long time ago. Like Maggie Sawyer has the smallest of small cameos in this because the idea of Maggie Sawyer on tv was inconceivable at the time. I'm not even sure season two had actually finished airing when I wrote this. It's that old. I decided it was time to finally post it.

Iris West-Allen had to be careful not to look directly at Linda Park, better known to the press and civilians as Doctor Light, for two reasons.

The first reason was for the same reason as everyone else. As one could guess from the name Doctor Light, Linda Park was photokinetic. She could summon blinding flashes of white light at will. Several officers, Iris included, had lost their sight to Doctor Light during one of her heists before. Floyd Lawton was by far the most unfortunate when it came to this particular dilemma. Lawton was not only the first cop to have their vision impaired by Doctor Light, but it also happened to him the highest number of times out of anyone in their precinct (possibly out of the human population).

The second reason only applied to Iris, as far as she was aware. She found Linda stunning even when she wasn't using her powers.

When Iris looked directly at Doctor Light she found herself fixated on ruby red lips. It felt like a cliche, but that was the exact hue of her lipstick. It was the kind of red lipstick a woman put on with stilettos to make her feel powerful enough to kill a man (or in Linda's case it was the type of red lipstick a woman put on with a black and white long coat to feel powerful enough to rob a bank).

Linda had obviously spent a good deal of time finding the perfect shade. Iris sometimes imagined Linda going to the makeup section of the drug store and standing in front of the mirror applying new colors until she found the perfect one. The upper half of Doctor Light's face was covered by her helmet, so making an impression was important, Iris guessed.

Staring too long at her soft, ruby red lips predictably led to thoughts about how said soft, ruby red lips would feel against her own. It lead to wondering if the helmet would get in the way. Iris did her best to banish those thoughts. She was an officer of the law and she didn't need to be distracted by fantasies of fraternization. Also she was married.

Iris would tear her eyes away from those lips only to look down at Doctor Light's attire. Linda wore quite the costume. Black leather pants, white ankle boots, a black and white long coat, and an eye protecting helmet. The pants and shoes she could've gotten anywhere, but the coat and the helmet not so much. Iris was ninety percent sure Linda had to have made the helmet herself, and the coat was too well fitted to have not been made by a tailor.

Her vaguely star shaped neckline was a questionable decision at best. It fit the theme at least, but it caught Iris's eye too easily. Too much time spent focused on that stupid neckline inevitably led to Iris pondering what might be beneath that costume. Imagining the curve of her- no. No, no, no. Iris couldn't be thinking about those things. Those were bad thoughts. Iris wouldn't allow herself to think this way. Absolutely not. She was happily married.

When she had successfully banished those musing she'd glance back up to her face. As Doctor Light she kept the top half of her face well hidden. Her identity was unable to be verified until the police had seen her without her helmet.

The day the CCPD first saw Linda as Linda and not Doctor Light was rather helter skelter. That is to say, it was the new version of a normal day as everyday on the force had been at least a bit helter skelter since the particle accelerator explosion at Star Labs.

Lawton was on his hands and knees gathering scattered papers when Iris walked into the precinct. She had just gotten back from a meeting with Mayor Snart.

It wasn't an official meeting or an intentional one for that matter. At least it wasn't planned from Iris's side of things, but she suspects that Snart may have been looking for her. Why else would their prestigious mayor be hanging around a place like Jitterbugs? Jitterbugs was a fine establishment, sure, but Leonard Snart was rich and privileged enough to be welcomed in literally every restaurant in the twins.

Iris was on her lunch break. She sat in her usual seat with a cup of black coffee in one hand and a ham croissant sandwich in the other. Someone tapped on her shoulder.

Iris turned around annoyed, "Yes?" As soon as she finished speaking she recognized the person's face.

"Excuse me, but do you happen to work for the Central City Police Department?" Snart inquired with pretend politeness.

Her uniform made that quite clear. All she could do was nod slowly.

Snart smiled with a shark's grin, "Great. I've had a few questions I've been meaning to ask the CCPD," and to Iris's horror pulled up a seat across from her and sat down, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind answering a few of them for me. I haven't properly introduced myself yet, have I?" he extended his hand, "Leonard Snart."

"I already know who you are."

"I see my reputation precedes me," he said as if he was surprised that she knew his identity.

"You're our mayor," she stated, "Everyone knows who you are. Somebody had to vote for you."

Snart tilted his head, "Were you a part of that somebody?"

No. She had voted for Tony Bellows. Bellows was a rookie officer around the time her grandfather was retiring. Maybe it was just the tenuous family connection, but Iris found Bellows to be far more trustworthy than Snart. Snart seemed like the guy who'd do anything to climb the social ladder no matter who he had to step on to do it. Like most politicians.

Barry might have voted for Snart though. He had a soft spot for people with humble beginnings. Iris blames Jimmy Stewart for that. Barry watched far too many of his movies growing up.

"I like to keep my voting habits a secret," she lied. It was only her husband that did that.

Snart's hand was still extended, "I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name?"

Iris took his hand, "Detective Iris West-Allen."

Snart gave a good firm handshake, "Who was the hyphenator? You or your mother?"

She withdrew her hand, "Me. Allen's my husband's surname," Iris glanced at the clock, "Um, my lunch break is almost up."

He shrugged, "Don't worry. It'll be fine."

"But-"

"They can make an exception just this once."

"Well-"

"I am the mayor Ms. West-Allen. If they'd make an exception for anybody, it would be me."

Iris resigned to her fate of having to talk to this man, "Okay. What did you want to ask me?"

The conversation had lasted a little over an hour. Snart mostly asked about the metahumans and how exactly the force was dealing with them in a way that seemed to question the intelligence and competence of the entirety of the CCPD.

Snart digressed a few times to complain about Deathstorm specifically. Those grievances were most likely on behalf of his husband, Mick Rory, who happened to be commissioner of the Central City Fire Department. All pyrokinetic metas must have been a pain in the ass for the CCFD, but Deathstorm was by far the most prolific arsonist of the bunch.

Iris left Jitterbugs feeling frustrated but as soon as she saw her partner she couldn't help but crack a smile, "Need a helping hand?"

Lawton looked up at her, "Oh thank God. Yes absolutely. Where were you earlier?"

"Held up by the mayor," Iris eased herself onto the floor, "What exactly are we picking up here?"

"Spivot's entire research file on Killer Frost," he mumbled ashamed.

Iris raised an eyebrow, "And how would something as important as that end up all over the floor?"

Lawton turned away from her, "I tripped over a snag in the rug."

She pursed her lips, "And why were you handling the file that is pretty much Patty's prized possession?"

"She wanted it transported to a different filing cabinet and was too busy to do it herself."

"Yeah, but the question still stands. Why would she trust you with that?" Iris wasn't afraid to be blunt with Lawton. He was well aware of his status as the clumsiest officer in the precinct and his general mediocrity.

He looked back at her face with some semblance of courage, "No one else would do it. Everyone else was busy."

"Of course."

It took a bit of work to collect all of the papers and organize them into what they hoped was the right order, although they couldn't really be sure because Spivot's brain worked in mysterious ways. Iris occasionally suspected that Patty might be a metahuman herself. A metahuman with powers not too unlike their Flash. It was improbable, but the way her eyes lit up as she quickly solved any sort of conundrum didn't make it impossible.

This tedious task proved to be surprisingly informative. She had learned a few tidbits of information on Killer Frost here and there. For example her real name was Caitlin Snow, she had a deceased older brother named Charlie, and she had flunked out of medical school.

The papers were now neatly stacked on a nearby desktop, "Thanks Iris. I don't think I could've done this without you."

Iris patted him on the shoulder, "Oh, anytime."

A large gust of wind accompanied by a red blur burst though the station. Every paper in the room not secured by a paperweight went flying. Unfortunately the file on Killer Frost fell into that category. So much hard work down the drain.

Iris, along with every other armed person in the room, reached for the pistol on her belt. Ever since metas appeared law enforcement had become almost impossible. Each and every officer tried their best, but that didn't make up fir the quadrupled mortality rate.

This brave new world came with a lot of brave new superstitions, but nothing could make a cop jumpier than the blur of a speedster.

Zoom first came onto the scene several years back. People knew metahumans were dangerous because it was common sense. A preschooler could tell you why the asshat with the ability to control the weather might be bad news. It wasn't until Zoom that people realized exactly how dangerous metas could be.

Before the black clad creature had a name he would race around the city causing property damage galore. It seemed innocent enough in retrospect. He was still a nuisance that insurance policies didn't cover because they had never anticipated anything like him.

There was a task force dedicated to catching this menace. It was made up of fifteen members, Lyle Beeder, Fred Chyre, James Forrest, August Heart, Brent Henderson, Mel Henderson, Aaron Jase, Lupé Teresa Leocadio-Escudero, Angela Margolin, Julio Mendez, Nicolas Pike, Armando Ramon, Maggie Sawyer, Jason Thompson, and Dan Turpin.

Just as it was beginning to look like it would take a miracle to catch the bastard they noticed a pattern. The speedster would always return to the same warehouse near the docks after each running session. So the plan was to go to that warehouse and wait for him. As they were out of ideas there didn't seem to be a reason not to try it. Of course if they weren't so desperate they would've seen how many ways that plan could fail.

Not a cloud was to be seen in the sky that day. It was even brighter than usual due to reflections off the shattered glass everywhere, courtesy of a certain speed demon.

Sometime around three in the afternoon the officers arrived at the warehouse. It is estimated that the target arrived at three fifty. What is known for certain is that Officer Ramon made his distress call at approximately three fifty-seven and when backup arrived he was the only living person in the room. Lyle Beeder, Fred Chyre, James Forrest, August Heart, Brent Henderson, Mel Henderson, Aaron Jase, Lupé Teresa Leocadio-Escudero, Angela Margolin, Julio Mendez, Nicolas Pike, Maggie Sawyer, Jason Thompson, and Dan Turpin were dead on the floor.

Ramon told the harrowing tale of the creature that snapped his colleagues' necks in the same amount of time it took to snap a finger. He gave this demon a name: Zoom.

Armando Ramon was a grown man, and as a grown man he was okay with admitting that he wouldn't be able to sleep alone in his apartment the night after experiencing such a traumatic event. So he slept in his old room at his parents' house. At the time that room was occupied by his youngest brother, Cisco. For the night Cisco was forced back into the room he used to share with his other brother Dante.

Cisco didn't sleep well that night. There was only one bed and Dante was a blanket hog that snored. Cisco used to be used to this, but it had been quite some time since he last had to deal with these conditions. Plus there was this unexplainable sinking feeling of dread.

As soon as the sun had risen Cisco snuck out of bed which was not hard because Dante was a heavy sleeper. He had to make sure he hadn't left anything in his room. At least that's the excuse he gave himself to check on Armando.

Armando Ramon was not breathing when his little brother found him. Official cause of death was a broken neck at around three in morning.

Fifteen officers had died from the actions of presumably one killer in twelve hours. Naturally the media went crazy with this story. Everyone nationwide feared Zoom. Especially cops, not that they'd ever admit it.

When the blur came to a full stop in the holding cell it became immediately apparent that it was just the Flash. Iris felt silly for her knee jerk paranoia. Even if the Flash was to go rogue one day he still wouldn't be nearly as dangerous as Zoom. Zoom had been around longer and was faster than the Flash. The Flash was a fine ray of hope, but he just didn't have the same level of experience that Zoom did.

In his arms there was a young woman. She was wearing an oversized Keystone City Patriots sweater and navy blue pajama bottoms. Her soft face was framed by shoulder length wavy brown hair that had only been slightly affected by bed head. Iris thought she looked like such a sweet girl.

While the rest of the station was gathering to see what all the hubbub was about the Flash looked the young woman in the eyes as he caressed her face. She swallowed looking a little scared and nodded. The Flash exited the cell and closed the door behind him, leaving her in there.

Sargent Jesse got uncomfortably close to the Flash's face, "What's the meaning of this?"

The Flash glanced back at the young woman for a brief moment before he addressed the precinct, "Officers, this woman's name is Linda Park. You've been looking for her."

"We have?" Iris asked dumbfounded

Linda Park sat down in the cell. She just looked so harmless to Iris. There was no way she was a day over twenty-three, and the Flash was saying that CCPD has been looking for her. It didn't make sense.

"You have," the Flash nodded, "Linda Park is the wanted metahuman criminal known as Doctor Light."

The station was silent for a second which was a long time by their standards.

Lawton broke the silence with an exclamation of, "We thought we'd never find her!"

Iris resisted the urge to cover her face with her hand, "Never is a strong word Lawton. We didn't know when we'd find her, but we knew it would happen eventually."

"Well, you have her now," the Flash flashed his pearly whites.

"We have you to thank for that, sir."

The Flash shook his head, "Ah, there's no need for that ma'am. I'm just doing my job and you're just doing yours," he took one last look at Linda, "I should get going now. A day's work is never complete."

And he was gone. The papers were in even greater disarray than before.

Sargent Jesse gestured to the mess of paperwork littering the floor, "Someone get an intern to clean that up."

All eyes fell to Kristen Kramer, the only intern in the room. Kristen sighed heavily. She got on her knees while mumbling something about how they really need to invest in paperweights. Iris pitied the girl, but she didn't pity her nearly enough to help her.

Sargent Jesse pointed at Iris, "And you."

"Yes, sir?" Iris straightened her posture.

"Watch over the good doctor here while we arrange to have her transported to Iron Heights."

"Will do," Iris nodded and speed walked over to the holding cell.

Now that Iris knew that Linda was Doctor Light she took the chance to take a closer look at her.

Linda had mahogany eyes that Iris wished she could get a closer look at. Her seemed comfortable, whatever that meant. Eyes that someone could lose themselves in if they weren't careful.

Iris wondered what it would be like to wrap her arms around that body. To hold her and to cherish her. She wondered what they would talk about late at night post-

"You're married."

"What?" Iris was abruptly brought back to the real world. She was secretly thankful that particular train of thought had been interrupted before it could go any further.

Linda repeated herself and pointed to the ring on Iris's finger, "You're married."

Iris looked down at her left hand, "Uh, yeah."

"Y'know that's a damn shame," Linda gave her best Mona Lisa smile.

Iris frowned, "Wait, why?"

"Well a lady like you," she bit her lip, "I'm sure there's plenty of people out there that would like to get to know you. Too bad that's been closed off so soon."

Was she doing what Iris thought she was doing? Was she flirting? Was she flirting with her?

No. No, there's no way. Iris must've just been projecting. Linda was just being friendly. Iris felt bad for momentarily perverting her kindness.

And even if Linda was flirting there would probably be some sort of an ulterior motive behind it.

Nevertheless Iris was flustered anyways, "Me?" she placed a hand on her chest, "Nah."

Linda sounded incredulous, "Yes, you. Don't be so humble. Looking at you, you don't have to be."

Iris blushed, "Stop flattering me."

"Oh no," Linda droned sardonically, "You've discovered my nefarious scheme."

"You'll never get away with this Doctor Light," Iris's melodramatic tone became actual seriousness as she remembered who she was talking to.

"We'll see," Linda said, "But in all seriousness she must be one hell of a woman."

"Who?"

"Your wife."

Iris blinked, "Oh no, um, yeah, uh, I don't have a wife. Why- why would you think I had a wife?"

Linda shrugged innocently, "Just a guess. So is he the hottest man in the world?"

Iris laughed forgetting about the whole assumption she had a wife thing for a moment, "I love him, but nerdiest man is more likely."

"You could do better."

"You don't know me. Besides we've been together a long time."

"How long have you been married?"

Iris looked up for a second, "We got hitched a couple days after his eighteenth birthday."

"His eighteenth birthday?" Linda tilted her head playfully, "So you're a cradle robber, huh?"

Iris choked on the air a little bit, "Oh god no. There's not even a full year between us. We're practically the same age."

Linda grinned, "You're really cute when you're nervous."

"Uh," Iris was desperate to get the conversation off of her, "How about you and the Flash?"

Iris was certain that there was something going on there. There just had to be. She saw the way he looked at her.

Maybe he met her while fighting crime and became smitten. He knew she was a villain, but he needed to make it work. He wanted her anyways. He found her in her civilian life and they began a passionate affair. Him turning her in was what happened when the honeymoon phase ended.

Maybe they met at a place little Jitterbugs and started dating as normal people, neither of them aware of the other's metahuman status. They went on normal dates like bowling or dinner, but the secret couldn't last forever. Eventually someone was found out. When one secret identity was torn away so was the other. She could've been his soulmate but he had a higher moral duty to uphold.

Although that brought up the question of whether or not the Flash had a civilian life. Most people tended to assume that the Flash was the Flash all the time. He didn't wear a mask so surely double life would've been exposed by now if he had one. Someone would've recognized him.

Iris wasn't always so sure about that. It would be tiring being everybody's hero every minute of the day. Plus the Flash couldn't have come out of nowhere. A grown man doesn't just pop into existence one day. Every person on the planet has a past.

Maybe-

Linda lightly shook her head, "No. Uh, it's not what you think."

"What is it then?"

"Look just-" Linda frowned, "just drop it. Okay?"

Iris considered how private metahumans tended to be and decided that she would have to would have to let this one slide, "Okay."

All conversation between the two of them had effectively been killed. The station was alive and bustling with activity like always, but neither Iris or Linda's voice was apart of the general noise until the guards from Iron Heights arrived.

Men in riot gear came and took Linda without fanfare. The whole ordeal was oddly mundane. Linda made no attempts to escape or rebel and was actually exceptionally cooperative.

That should have made them suspicious, but hey hindsight is everything.

Linda wasn't even incarcerated for a full fourty-eight hours. Due to her unanticipated invisibility she was able to make her escape.

It was funny really. Iris, and everyone else really, had always assumed that Doctor Light wanted to be looked at. They thought that the reasoning went without saying; if she wasn't being looked then she couldn't hurt anyone. But that had all went out the window with this escape. People learned that Doctor Light could afflict damage visible or not if she wanted to. There was no unlearning that.

Since Iris had seen Linda's full face the thoughts that Iris was occasionally plagued with during their confrontations hadn't gotten any better. They had just changed a little bit. Iris was less likely to wonder if Linda's helmet would get in the way of a kiss and more likely to imagine pulling the helmet off as she leaned in.

This had to stop.

Iris shouldn't be thinking these thoughts. She was straight. Or at least she used to think she was. She had been rather uncertain about that as of late. How heterosexual was it for a woman to fantasize about kissing (among other things) other women?

Yes, women as in plural. Linda wasn't the only girl Iris had thought about in this way, but her criminal status certainly made her the most problematic one.

The more she thought about it the more she realized that she was likely bisexu-

No. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to reevaluate her sexual identity. It would be easier to just be straight. That's what she told herself anyways.

She was straight and she was happily married to a wonderful man.

Bartholowmew Henry Allen and Iris Ann West had met in high school. She was a sophomore and he was a freshmen. He was a full year ahead of the rest of his class in science and she was assigned to be his lab partner.

It was likely that the two of them had actually met some time before that point when they considered the fact that they had also attended the same elementary and middle schools. Statistically speaking they had probably seen each other a thousand times, but they just kept missing each other until that science class.

Science projects were often too big and complicated to complete at school causing them to need to meet after school often. At first they exclusively met at the library, but that proved to be unrealistic after the first two weeks. The school library was the most popular area for studying which made it crowded and difficult to focus. Whereas the public library was too far away from Iris's house to walk and get home before curfew.

Inglewood Park was the first new place they tried. While it was quiet enough to concentrate (that is, if one could ignore the screaming toddlers in the background) by the end of September it was rather chilly. They stopped going to Inglewood Park by the beginning of October and they didn't come back until the middle of April.

A little over half of the time they went to Barry's house. The walls of his room were plastered with posters. All of them were either diagrams of scientific principles or representations of a science fiction television program. Occasionally Iris would point to a random picture and ask what it was just to watch Barry launch into a long explanation. Iris's main motivation was procrastination but that wasn't all there was behind her course of action.

Barry only ever talked to other students during class was when it was absolutely required to get work done, but in the real world it was much easier to prod him into a conversation. Honestly, it was kinda hard to get him to shut up, but luckily Iris found his long rambling speeches about Commander Carl oddly endearing. It helped that no matter how much Barry talked he was equally willing to listen.

Nora Allen, Barry's charming mother, would knock on their door and see if they wanted snacks every hour on the dot. Iris swore she was trying to fatten her up with all of those sweets.

Barry tried to assure her that his mother had no such intentions, "She just likes feeding people and she's excited that I have friends. Your weight is not a factor."

Iris put her hands her hips, "She keeps telling me that I'm too skinny."

"Mom says that about everyone. She says that about me," he defended.

"But it's true about you."

Barry's eyes widened in offense, "I'm not too skinny!"

"Yes, you are," Iris put her hand on Barry's side, "I can feel your ribs without pressing at all."

He backed away half a step, "That doesn't mean anything."

"It means that you're too skinny," she said.

"Every person's body is different."

She gestured at his person, "And your body is underweight. I could pick you up and carry you around the block."

He actually wouldn't mind that too much, but he couldn't admit that to her. That would be weird.

"Fine," he sighed, "I'm too skinny. Are you happy?"

She slipped a sly smile, "Not until you admit that your mother isn't as innocent as her facade would suggest."

Barry threw up his hands exasperated, "I can ask her to stop if you want."

"No. Don't do that. Please," Iris said slightly alarmed.

Barry knitted his eyebrows together, "But weren't you just-"

"I only just pointing out her obvious evil plans. Not condemning them. Dad, bless him, has the voice of an angel but his talent does not extend to cooking. The only food I get that you can honestly call good and not just decent is at Jitterbugs. But nothing beats homemade. Those cookies are my saving grace."

By the time they were both done laughing Nora knocked on the door for the third time that visit asking if the needed more snacks.

Every once and a while she'd see Barry's dad, Henry. Henry was a doctor that worked various hell shifts so he was seldom home, but when he was around he was cool. When he first met Iris he tried to pull the quarter behind the ear trick. The only problem (although in Iris's opinion that made it a thousand times better) was that he was terrible at it. This left a horribly embarrassed Barry and cackling Iris in the aftermath of the event.

Jitterbugs was Iris's preferred place to meet up because it was convenient for her. When they didn't go to Barry's house they went to Jitterbugs most of the time. Her fathers gigs were there more nights than not. She had practically grown up in this coffee shop. Barry wasn't nearly as comfortable there as she was though.

They rarely went to Iris's house and when they did, they rarely ventured beyond the living room couch. Barry would be stiff the whole time.

Once while walking him back to his house one she asked him about that particular behavior and he said, "I think your dad hates me."

Iris laughed, "Nah, he just likes to scare people. There's no genuine disdain there, trust me."

Over this time they had quickly become best friends. Well, she might have been his only friend. Barry would insist that he had friends outside of her, that she wasn't the only one with a social life, but the only true friend of his that he could prove the existence of to her was a battered chemistry textbook.

After that school year ended and they both passed with flying colors they continued to hang out. In fact they actually saw each other more often than they did when it was strictly necessary to keep their grades up.

She wasn't sure exactly when things became romantic between to the two of them. Maybe they always were. She just knew that there had been something brewing for a while by the time they had their first kiss.

It just sorta happened. One moment they were talking about Jimmy Stewart, the next their faces were together. She had been a senior. He had been a junior.

Her father never forgave them for eloping barely a year later. He always claimed that he was only mad at him, but she found that hard to believe. It takes two to get married.

They didn't have to elope. They weren't Romeo and Juliet. There was nothing forbidden about their relationship. Their families got along for the most part even if Joe had never been particularly fond of Barry. They eloped because it just felt right.

Iris found herself looking back on the glory days of their courtship on nights like this.

Barry had told her that he would be working late. That's what he had told her and she believed him. Why wouldn't she?

So of course she was home alone when she got the phone call.

The person on the other end started talking first, "Honey, you're late. Why are you always late to everything?"

Iris had only met him once briefly but she recognized the voice, "Hal?"

Hal was silent for a few moments, "I have the wrong number. I meant to call Carol."

Iris frowned, "Okay."

Hal called them (no not them, Barry) quite often. Too often, if you asked Iris, but she never said anything because Barry would beam with a brightness she hadn't seen from him in years when talking to his _friend_. She didn't understand why he called so fucking often, but she knew it was often enough that he should know when he had dialed their number.

"Hey, just curious, is Barry around?" He asked right when Iris was about to hang up.

She shook her head, "No. He's working late."

"Oh alright. I hope you have a nice night Iris," there was something she didn't like in his tone.

"You too," she hung up.

This has not been the first time something like this had happened.

Iris Ann West-Allen was not a stupid woman. But there's a difference between knowing the truth and being willing to admit it.

She poured herself a glass of wine and wondered when things changed. Maybe they had always been this way. She didn't know.

Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the universe if she acted on her feelings towards Linda. She just wasn't sure if she would know how at this point.

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize if the editing wasn't all that great for I am sick right now and I edited it last night when I was even sicker.
> 
> If there was anything that went untagged that you think should have been tagged let me know.
> 
> Thank you for reading.


End file.
